Happy St. Patty's Day! Since today is a holiday that's all about greenness, I'm sharing a recipe with you that *might* be in my next cookbook (the jury is still out).

It all started about a week ago when my assistant went on a baking spree and posted a bunch of photos on Facebook of all the things she'd made. While I was practically licking my screen at the "Cake Batter Cinnamon Buns" what really got my attention were some "Green Monster Muffins."

The term "green monster" (which I believe was coined by Angela, of Oh She Glows) refers to spinach-rich smoothies that are popular among bloggers.

Anyway, I used to *love* spinach and cheese muffins waaay back in my vegetarian days. (There is something really kick ass about a savory muffin) so I thought, "Hey! I could probably substitute spinach for carrots in the carrot cake cupcake recipe!"

But after some thought, I decided to tinker with it a bit -- add lemon zest because I'm obsessed with lemon in baked goods, reduce the sugar to make it more "healthy" and less "dessert"-like...and before I knew it, I'd reworked the entire recipe.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tin if necessary, and set aside (I use non-stick). Chop spinach (or put in a food processor or blender) until it's chopped finely -- and pack it tightly into a 1 cup measuring cup (you may have a little overflow), set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together. In a small bowl, mix nondairy milk with applesauce and vanilla. Pour into flour (dry) mixture and stroke a few times. Then add spinach, and lemon zest, stirring until just combined -- careful not to over stir, but make sure there are no pockets of flour. Fill cups 3/4 full and bake 15-25 minutes (mine were perfect at 17).

For the exact Green Monster muffins Andrea made, visit The Chic Life. BTW, I think if you want the muffins to be brilliant green, you'll need to pulverize the spinach like in this recipe.

Lindsay S. Nixon

Hi I'm Lindsay also known as the Happy Herbivore.I've dedicated myself helping folks lose weight on a vegan diet. I been blogging since 2006, written 6 books, and started a business called Meal Mentor.